Grain door



April 22 A. STYUDER GRAIN DOOR Filed Feb. 26. 1923 VII/1011A IIIIIIIIIII/I/Il N BY A ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

UNITED STATES ALFRED STUDER, OF SOUTH BABTONVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FIFTH TO;

PATWr rFicE.

1P. JOSEPH PLATTNER, 9F MORTON, ILLINOIS.

GRAIN DOO'R.

Application filed February 26, 1923. Serial No. 621,466.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED STUDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bartonville, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Grain Doors; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention pertains to improvements in grain doors. More particularly the invention has to do with a grain door of two parts adapted to be moved separately in a horizontal direction across the door-way.

The object of my invention is that of providing a novel form of guiding arrangement for each of the two door sections so disposed and arranged that either can" be projected across the door-way with no chance of sagging or dragging upon other parts. Also, that at the door jamb where the ends of the door sections are received in closing the opening there will be provided a peculiar structure by which the sections may be firmly seated.

Another object is that of so constructing and mounting the door sections or parts that while the material of which the sections are made may be light in weight, the complete door will be thoroughly strong and not likely to bulge under excessive weight of grain thereagainst.

These and other objects will be made clear herein and in order that a full understanding may be had I have provided the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 shows part of the inside wallsurface of a car in perspective, and my invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is part of the outer surface of a car-wall showing the door-opening or doorway, and the door of my invention.

Figures 3 and 4 are transverse sectional elevations of the upper section of the door.

Figure 5 is a similar view of the lower door-section.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional elevation of parts of the two door-sections, and

Figure 7 is an elevation of a toothed wheel or pinion, part of a door section, and a member secured to the latter with which the pinion en ages.

The wal of the car is designated by the character '1, the floor of the car being shown at 2, while 3 is the door-opening or doorway.

The door in the present instance is made of two portions, an upper section 4 and a lower section 5, both of which are made to move in a horizontal direction across the said doorway. Each is mounted and supported wholly upon a guide-rail 6 secured upon the inner wall surface, Figure 1, the said rail preferably having the form of an L, as seen endwise, substantially as shown in Figures3 and 4, so placed that a groove is created between the car-wall and one of the limbs of said rail. Secured upon the section'4 is a similarly formed rail 7 oppositely placed and engaging said rail 6'as clearly shown.

The lower section 5 is provided with a rail 8 corresponding in form to 7, and a rail 9 corresponding to the rail 6 is also secured on the car-wall.

Although the guide-rails 6 and 9 are not shown for their entire length upon the carwall they preferably have about the same length as the sections 4 and 5 and the latter are much greater in length than the width of the door-way in order that the parts thereof that-overlie the car-wall will be suflicient- 1y long when the door-way is covered to have a considerable support upon said guide rails. When thus constructed the sections when projected across the door-wayare so held that they cannot sag or tilt downward at their free extended extremities. This tendency to tilt downwardly is met by providing strips 10 and 11 of the sections 4 and 5 respectively which lie beneath and slidably engage the rails 6 and 9 respectively. Thus the rails 7, 8 and strips 10, 11 enclose the rails and direct the door sectionsin perfectly straight lines. 1

The said strips 10 and 11 may be preferably angle-bars or channel-bars, one limb of each of which is provided with a row of holes, Figure 7, for receiving the teeth of a pinion 13 secured on a shaft 14 journaled in the wall 1 and having a squared end within a socket 15 on the outer surface of said wall, this being present in both door sections.

The rails 7 and 8 and strips 10 and 11 necessarily space the door sections from the wall of the car and since grain would naturally find an outlet at the door jamb the resulting spaces between the sections and said jamb above and below the parts 7 g 10 and 8,

11 are closed by strips 16 secured to the carwall, Figures 1, 2 and 4c, the pinion 13 lying in a recess 16 of said strips 16, protected from the grain.

The door sections can be made of a comparatively thin gauge of metal since they are reinforced by the rails 7, 8 and the strips 10, 11, these members preventing buckling due to loads and stresses imposed.

Preferably the upper door-section is guided, also, upon the lowersection in the use of strips 17 secured at opposite sides of said upper section at the lower edge thereof forming a saddle to receive the upper edge of the lower section into it, the two door section being out of direct sliding engagement, however, see Figure 6.

The door-jamb that receives the free edge of the door sections is provided with vertical strips 18 spaced from the wall 1, there being interposed between the strips and said wall 1, short rail-sections 19, 20 Figures 1, 3 and 5, to receive the described rails 7 and 8. Strips 21 close the spaces above and below said sections 19, 20 while leaving recesses for the entrance of said rails 7, 8 and the strips 10, 11. This construction, it will be seen, provides a guide at both janihs of the doorway that together serve to hold the complete door in a very rigid manner.

A suitable wrench, not shown, may be used to operate the pinions 13, and by shifting the lower section first to open the doorway the weight of grain against the door may be relieved whereupon the upper section may then be readily shifted to entirely uncover the door-way.

The sliding fit of the rails 7, 8 and strips 10, 11 at opposite sides of the guide-rails 6 insures perfect guidance of the door sections so that said rails and strips will be carried directly into the described sockets in? the receiving jamb.

I claim:

1. The combination with the wall of a railway grain car, of a plurality of spaced guide-rails secured to the inner side thereof in horizontal position at one side of the doorway in said wall, a grain door made up of horizontally movable sections, each section having at the middle of its height a pair of spaced parallel portions adapted to have sliding engagement with opposite sides of the guide rail corresponding thereto, each section being wholly supported by its said guide-rail, and pinions journaled in the said wall adapted each to engage one of the spaced portions of one of the sections for shifting it.

2. The combination with the wall of a railway grain car, of a closure for the door opening in said wall con'iprising a pair of sections adapted for horizontal movement separately across the said door opening, a pair of spaced parallel portions secured in horizontal position upon each section at substantially the middle of its height, a pair of horizontally disposed parallel guide-rails ailixed to the inner side of the wall of the car each for wholly supporting one of the said sections, the parallel portions on each section enclosing one of the said guide-rails, and pinions supported in the car wall each adapted to engage one of the said portions of one of said door sections for shifting that section.

3. The combination with the wall of a railway grain-car, of a pair of horizontally disposed guide-rails secured to the inner side thereof adjacent the doorway therein, a pair of door-sections each having a length considerably greater than the width of the said doorway, each having a pair of spaced guide portions secured longitudinally thereof at the middle of its height adapted to slidably engage opposite edges of one of the said guide-rails, each section being wholly sup ported by its respective guide-rail, one of the guide portions of each section adapted to engage over its guide-rail for preventing lateral displacement of the section, and operating pinions each engaging one of said guide portions of one of the sections, the edges of the sections being spaced from one another.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED STUDER. Vvitnesses E. J. ABERsoL, L. M. THURLow. 

